During construction, the exterior of many buildings is completed before the interior. Thus the exterior work can be completed during better weather conditions and finishing work, walls, duct work, electrical, molding, floors, etc. can be completed in weather that would have been too hot, too cold, too wet, etc. Often, heating and/or ventilation and/or air conditioning systems (hereafter referred to as HVAC systems) are installed before the walls and ceilings are in place.
During new construction and/or remodeling, once a substantial portion of the structure is intact and some or all of the windows/doors are installed, the building is substantially closed (i.e. sealed except for windows and doors that may be open). Once the building is substantially closed, the HVAC system is often run to heat, cool or ventilate the building to condition and/or dehumidify air while workers complete the interior components of the newly constructed or remodeled building. This is fine for the workers, but work being performed within the building often creates issues with the HVAC system because contaminants such as general construction dust, dirt, concrete dust, drywall dust, wood dust, carpet fibers, ceiling tile fibers, composites dust, insulation, etc, are drawn into the HVAC duct and travel to the air conditioning equipment. The contaminants often settle in the duct work and/or pass through to the air conditioning equipment. In addition, dust that may occur from the HVAC installation process is often drawn into equipment or discharged to other interior building spaces, possibly building spaces that have already been completed (i.e. carpeted, furniture installed). Lately, some building guidelines or regulations now require that the HVAC system be free of such contaminants. Even without guidelines and regulations, it is undesirable to leave such contaminants within the duct/air conditioning system for long periods of time because they provide a breading ground for bacteria, mold, and odor, they randomly dislodge from the ducts and are emitted into the building air, they collect around various HVAC components (e.g. baffles, flaps, dampers, sensing devices) leading to failures of those components, etc.
Due to the length of duct runs, turns, elbows, dampers, etc., it is often impractical to clean the ducts and air conditioning system after the construction is complete. Therefore, it is better to prevent contamination of the ducts/air conditioning system during construction.
To combat the introduction of contaminants into the HVAC system and eventual discharge from such, builders have resorted to covering the return, exhaust, ventilation grilles with filters or filter media. This reduces contamination of the ducts, fans, and heat exchanger, but often the mechanisms for attaching the filters or filter media to the grilles damages the grille, grid system or ceiling tiles. For example, builders have used tape or wire ties to hold the filters or filter media to the grilles. This often results in marring and/or scratching of the grille or grid system, or the tape leaves residue or potentially pulls paint off of the grille or grid system. Furthermore, using these methods, the filter or filter media often sags, leaving large gaps where unfiltered air containing contaminants is free to flow into the ducts and eventually into the equipment (e.g. air handler) and in some cases pass through to the interior building space. In some cases, the filter or media falls off. Such make-shift attempts to prevent debris from entering the HVAC systems are only partially effective.
What is needed is a device that attaches to the grid system and tightly holds a filter or filter media against the grille and/or grid, without damaging the grid system or grille.